After Marathas, Banjaras raise Hyderabad Gazette, demand ST status

“In 1871, the British notified us as criminal tribes which was denotified by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in 1952. In the 1930s, Banjaras were in the list of tribes in Punjab, Central Province and Berar and Mysore province. The 1920 Hyderabad Gazette refers to us as tribes. It was due to the wrong interpretation and lack of representation in post-Mandal period that the Banjara community was added into OBC list in Maharashtra,” said Jadhav.

The erstwhile Central Province and Berar included present day Nagpur, Wardha, Bhandara, Buldhana, Washim, Akola and Amravati in Maharashtra. According to Banjara activists, the 1936 list, when Berar became part of the Central Province, noted Banjaras as Tribes.

Jadhav said that the community does not want to disturb the existing ST reservation but instead expects the Maharashtra government to find a way to provide within the constitutional limits as per the same on the lines of 10% reservation given for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS).

“Maharashtra government has decided to use the Hyderabad Gazette to give Kunbi status to Marathas. We demand that the same gazette be used by the government to give us ST status as it describes tribes. We expect the state government will accept our long-standing demand,” said Sanjay Rathod, a Congress leader from the community, who said he was participating in the protests as a member of the community.

The community, after holding protests in Jalna and Beed, has organised a protest in Buldhana on September 25 which will be followed by the ones in Yavatmal, Amravati and other districts.